Press Contact: Stuart Brown, Township Manager
(732) 583-4200, ext.117.

ABERDEEN TOWNSHIP ANNOUNCES PROMOTIONS
OF POLICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS, INCLUDING NEW CHIEF

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ABERDEEN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (4/3/06) – Aberdeen Township today announced the promotions of Deputy Chief John T. Powers to the position of Police Chief and Lieutenant Richard Derechailo to Deputy Chief. Powers, 46, assumes the leadership of the 35-member department from Chief Joseph Kelly, who retired after a 30-year career with Aberdeen.

Additionally, Joseph Cole and Alan Geyer have been promoted from Sergeant to the rank of Lieutenant, and Darrell Oliver has been promoted from Patrolman to Sergeant. All five veterans of the municipality’s force will be officially sworn in to their new positions at the Township Council meeting on Tuesday, April 4, by Mayor David Sobel and Deputy Mayor Wilhelmina Gumbs.

A 43-year resident of Aberdeen, Powers began his career with the department in 1982 as a Patrol Officer. In 1988, he was promoted to Sergeant, assigned to the Patrol Division as a Patrol Supervisor. In 1992, Powers was named Commander of the Traffic Safety Bureau and, two years later, was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned as Commander of the Operations Division. He was named Deputy Chief in 2003. Powers graduated from Richard Stockton State College with a B.A. in Criminal Justice. Active in the community, Powers serves as the township’s Emergency Management Coordinator, is a member of the township’s Recreation Advisory Board, and has coached in both the Aberdeen-Matawan Youth Soccer League and the Matawan-Aberdeen Babe Ruth League.

Derechailo, 48, joined the department in 1985 as a Patrol Officer and was promoted to Detective in 1990. In 1992, he was promoted to Sergeant, assigned to the Patrol Division. Three years later, Derechailo was assigned Commander of the Detective Bureau. In 2003, he was promoted to Lieutenant, assigned to the Patrol Division. He holds a Masters Degree in Administrative Science from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a B.S. degree in Administration of Justice from University College-Rutgers University. Outside the department, he is a 30-year member of the Cliffwood Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 and a former commissioner of Aberdeen Township Fire District No. 2.

“We are very proud to promote these two ‘home-grown’ veterans of the department to the top-two positions,” Mayor Sobel commented. “In addition to highly decorated records, Chief Powers and Deputy Chief Derechailo bring strong leadership and communication skills, solid academic backgrounds, compassion, and a firm commitment to the community policing initiative that had been successfully implemented during former Chief Kelly’s tenure. He has left the department in very capable hands.”

Cole, 38, joined the department in 1995 as a Patrol Officer and, two years later, was assigned to the Detective Division. In 2001, he was promoted to Sergeant, assigned to the Patrol Division. In 2004, he was named Commander of the Detective Division. Prior to joining the department, he was a State Correctional Officer at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility. He holds a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice Administration from the University of Phoenix and is currently pursuing a M.S. in Criminal Justice Administration from Boston University.

Geyer, 49, joined the department in 1987 as a Patrol Officer and was assigned to the Detective Bureau in 1995. In 2000, he was assigned as Provisional Sergeant in the Patrol Division and, the following year, was promoted to Sergeant in the Patrol Division. In 2002, he was named Commander of the Traffic Safety Bureau. He earned an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Thomas Edison College.

In 1999, Oliver, now 36, left his initial career as a stockbroker to become a Patrol Officer with the Aberdeen Township Police Department. Oliver, who holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Management and Economics from the University of Delaware, plans to pursue a second degree in Criminal Justice.

“Like Chief Powers and Deputy Chief Derechailo, Lieutenants Cole and Geyer, and Sergeant Oliver embody the qualities we seek for the Aberdeen Police Department,” said Deputy Mayor Wilhelmina Gumbs. “We are pleased to be able to have witnessed the professional growth of these decorated veterans and to be able to elevate them to new leadership positions within our department.”

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